Alabama executes 46-year-old man convicted of killing minister in 1991

[May 31, 2019]  By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) - Alabama on Thursday executed a 46-year-old man convicted of killing a minister and wounding his wife with a sword and dagger while robbing their home three days before Christmas in 1991, the state's department of corrections said.

Christopher Price was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7:31 p.m. (0031 GMT) local time at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections said.

"A man is much more than his worst mistake," Price said as his final statement, according to the department of corrections.

Price was originally scheduled to be executed on April 11, but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay in his challenge to the state's lethal injection procedure. The U.S. Supreme Court later that night ruled that Alabama could go ahead with the execution, but the death warrant had expired.

Price was convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 in the killing of William Lynn, a minister, in his home in Bazemore, Alabama, on Dec. 22, 1991.

Lynn and his wife, Bessie, had just returned home from church and were assembling Christmas presents for their grandchildren when two robbers shut off the electricity in the home and attacked the couple with a sword and dagger, according to court documents.

Lynn died of his injuries, while his wife survived wounds to her head, hands and chest.

Price was captured seven days later and admitted that he had taken part in the robbery, but said he did not hurt the couple, according to court documents.

Death row inmate Christopher Price is seen in Atmore, Alabama, U.S., in this photo provided May 29, 2019. Alabama Department of Corrections/Handout via REUTERS

Kelvin Coleman, who was accused of being Price's accomplice, pleaded guilty to murder and robbery and is serving a life sentence without parole, authorities said.

Price was the ninth inmate in the United States and the third in Alabama to be executed in 2019, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks executions.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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